Wow, what a treat!
Ten walkers kindly came to my first walk in months, it was great to meet
and catch up again. What a lovely lot the TWWers are! Shame Charlie, the
Collars and Dianne couldn’t make it, but just as well as there was little
parking available at the station.
Setting off at a fair pace, we walked past old
daffodil fields planted probably before the First World War, with some
daffodils still blooming. The path down through the woods was snowy with wild garlic, even more than last year. By
Tuckermarsh Quay we checked the topiary and were disappointed that the ‘snail’
was looking rather sad.
The wind was
too cold to stop for coffee in our usual place, so we continued in dry weather
along the Tamar foreshore (part of the Tamar Discovery trail), gazing longingly
towards the Cornish side and the former hotel at Danescombe, which looked
really smart. Without my crib notes in hand,(I’d forgotten them) we talked a
bit about the construction of the amazing viaduct in 1904-7, connecting the
railway from Bere Alston to the East Cornwall Mineral Line. Just as if ordered, a train crossed it and
Anne took a great photo. The ferry across to Caslstock would make part of an
interesting walk, but I hadn’t ordered the right tide, so no chance today!
After noting the chapel in the woods above Cotehele, where
Richard, Earl of Edgcumbe and a Royalist, managed to outwit his enemies by
throwing his hat in the river so they assumed he’d drowned, we stopped for coffee
at the picnic tables by Ward Mine, now overgrown with nettles. Are we the only
ones to use them?
We pressed on through South Ward Farm and rediscovered
the handkerchief tree, looking glorious. Then we plunged through Braunder woods
and started the steep incline to Braunder Farm, stopping for lunch with a
glorious view of the Tamar looking towards Halton Quay of BBC fame (that
dreadful ‘Beyond Paradise’ programme with the great local views).
And thence to the station again. So good to see the
group. Many thanks for coming along.
Liz